A Few Niggles to sort out for my R36

[Screwdriverone]

Hi all,

Starting a list of items that I would like some advice on, from our esteemed experts here, namely;

1) A list of tried and tested LED replacement globes for my parkers, rear number plate, puddle lights and possibly cornering lights. I bought the ****e Jaycar "Canbus compatible" T10 globes on the weekend and proceeded to see my left parker, my right parker and even my left headlight periodically go off and generate MFD errors. I even swapped the left one at Jaycar for a different one and no luck. They are crap. Taking them back tomorrow. Can these be bought at Supercheap or elsewhere or is it an eBay thing?

2) Polish up my roof rails and chrome window trim which is cloudy and oxidized or rain spotty (very on the rails) and Autosol doesn't work. Anyone tried Gumption or something else to restore the shine?

3) I NEED Bluetooth and am thinking of a Denison Pro BT from Cushie. "Only" $350 ish dollaridoos. Is this a good option? 9w7 sounds flash but not sure how cheap I can get this, plus I don't know how my man card will hold up prying bits of dash off to install anything, so the most painless vs cost option would be appreciated.

4) Minor scratches and scrapes from previous owner, what's the best low risk polish to clean these off without harsh scratching?

5) Some trusted options for servicing around the Sydney Hills district for my new beastie. I already take my wife's Cooper S convertible to BEMW for regular fixes (new clutch $2000, new caster bushes $600, new harmonic balancer $1000) so I would appreciate any advice and tips on some reliable and affordable Euro experts who may be able to take not only the R36 servicing, but even the Mini if the recommendations and reputation exceeds BEMW? Not that I am unhappy, but it pays to shop around to get the best deal/service/price for both my Euro rockets.... [emoji573]

That's it for now. I will add to this thread as time goes on as the inevitable extras get stacked on to this ever growing list. I have been trawling through Kamold's and Rjt86 and Snerlo's threads for tips and parts etc but some of the links are old and busted and not working right, just like me I suppose?

Help me Obi-Wan Kenobis, you're my only hope..... :wink:

Cheers

Chris


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[kamold]

I'm hills too happy to meet for a chat.
Will have a Bluetooth module available soon.
For service locally Hills Eurohaus or VW Mobile servicing.
For led parkers Boldsport have been the only ones which have worked for me long term.

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[Screwdriverone]

Thanks K, would love to catch up and chew the fat over an amber ale and pick your brain. PM me for the pricing of the BT, I'm very interested in that with my birthday next week meaning the minister of finance becomes quite generous......:). Do you have a link or part numbers for the boldsport bits? I checked their website based on your post but so many options came up I got confused and impatient, hence the Jaycar mind fart.

2008 R36 Reflex Silver Wagon

[Screwdriverone]

Another item:

My headlight lenses are quite pitted due to, I think, the previous owner's penchance for surfing and the poor R36 got sandblasted while waiting for its owner to return. Any suggestions here for restoring/polishing the glass?

2008 R36 Reflex Silver Wagon

[Screwdriverone]

One more for the list:

Seems I may have a tyre pressure sensor issue. I've checked all 5 tyres are at 36 PSI but get the MFD alert on ignition. Any ideas as to how to troubleshoot this one?


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[kamold]

Have you reset the tpms by holding down the button until it dings?

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[Lucas_R]

+1 for BoldSport for your LED's. The ones these guys sell are the only ones that have worked long term without any issues.

You will probably find the headlights have been sandblasted from driving too close to other people on the freeway (dust and small stones will do a fair bit of damage over the years). You can use a series of fine sandpapers to smoothen out the lens and then use polishes to bring back the shine. Its a bit of work to get them looking good again but worth it in my opinion.

[Screwdriverone]

Have you reset the tpms by holding down the button until it dings?

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Yep, did that, and the monitoring comes back on automatically after about 2 minutes and then shows me the warning on start again, every time


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[kamold]

Ok need to get a vcds scan to see what the problem is. Likely a tpms sensor battery is flat.

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[Screwdriverone]

+1 for BoldSport for your LED's. The ones these guys sell are the only ones that have worked long term without any issues.

You will probably find the headlights have been sandblasted from driving too close to other people on the freeway (dust and small stones will do a fair bit of damage over the years). You can use a series of fine sandpapers to smoothen out the lens and then use polishes to bring back the shine. Its a bit of work to get them looking good again but worth it in my opinion.

Thanks Lucas for the tips on the lenses. I may need a stiff drink and a dose of manliness before I take to my lights with sandpaper, but I will keep this in mind. Hmmm. Looks like some web browsing for BoldSport is in order after a second mention. Thanks.


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[Screwdriverone]

Update on Stupid Purchases for those who may be thinking of doing this. I got a refund from Jaycar for the T10 "Canbus" LEDs for the parkers, then went and tried the Supercheap ones for $16 ish for two. These don't work either, so forget these ones too. They barely even blinked before the car said "Nup, these globes are garbage".

Bought some "brilliant blue" incandescent T10s as one of my previous ones blew upon reinstall, and these work fine but are the colour of the setting sun compared to the bi-xenons. Brilliant Blue my arse! Oh well at least the dashboard light is off until I can get my Boldsports ordered.

Here endeth the lesson


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[Screwdriverone]

Looks like these T10 globes DO work in the mirror puddles as they take T10s also.... not very bright but look nicer than the sunshine globes. Well, working for now anyway. Time will tell.


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[seanmau5]

If you're interested in sourcing a little closer to home, I've used Blingworks automotive for some of my LEDs. A little more expensive but free postage and reliable products


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[Screwdriverone]

Thanks Sean. Great tip. I'll check them out

Cheers,

Chris

2008 R36 Reflex Silver Wagon

[Domatron]

If you're interested in sourcing a little closer to home, I've used Blingworks automotive for some of my LEDs. A little more expensive but free postage and reliable products


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I've also bought from blingworks. As Sean says a bit more expensive but the guys there are very helpful.

For the parkers in the past I had canbus LEDs which only lasted about 6-8 months. I've been told that this type of light gets hot and burns out eventually. Anyway I've now changed to high quality non-canbus T10 LEDs with separate canbus controllers. All up will cost you roughly $50. There's a little more effort involved installing but you won't be disappointed with the results.

As for the headlights I used a headlight polishing kit from 3M. I used prior to installing Lamin-x tint sheets. Worked a real treat. I was also a little nervous at the start. I found that I was only able to get rid of the shallow pitting though. The deep pits would have needed more time than I was willing to put into it. And anyway once the sheet was on you couldn't even see them anymore. I ordered the sheets and the restoration kit off the Lamin-x site. Can't remember how much all up but roughly $100 I think. If you aren't into tinting your headlights they have clear sheets as well which will still help protect the lenses once you've polished them.


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[XXX-1.8T]

what are people using for their racks?

mine are also cloudy and scared to use autosol as its too harsh?

[Screwdriverone]

I found autosol did barely anything to mine so I gave up and asked here. Yet to get anyone to answer..... sorry


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[pandas]

Hills Eurohaus does the servicing for both my Golf GTI and R36. Top blokes, always there when I need them :)

[Screwdriverone]

I've also bought from blingworks. As Sean says a bit more expensive but the guys there are very helpful.

For the parkers in the past I had canbus LEDs which only lasted about 6-8 months. I've been told that this type of light gets hot and burns out eventually. Anyway I've now changed to high quality non-canbus T10 LEDs with separate canbus controllers. All up will cost you roughly $50. There's a little more effort involved installing but you won't be disappointed with the results.

As for the headlights I used a headlight polishing kit from 3M. I used prior to installing Lamin-x tint sheets. Worked a real treat. I was also a little nervous at the start. I found that I was only able to get rid of the shallow pitting though. The deep pits would have needed more time than I was willing to put into it. And anyway once the sheet was on you couldn't even see them anymore. I ordered the sheets and the restoration kit off the Lamin-x site. Can't remember how much all up but roughly $100 I think. If you aren't into tinting your headlights they have clear sheets as well which will still help protect the lenses once you've polished them.


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Thanks Dom, I'll give this a go. Some good tips there, thanks!

Cheers,

Chris

2008 R36 Reflex Silver Wagon

[Screwdriverone]

Hills Eurohaus does the servicing for both my Golf GTI and R36. Top blokes, always there when I need them :)
That settles it then. Hills Eurohaus sounds like the way to go. Cheers pandas.

Cheers,

Chris

2008 R36 Reflex Silver Wagon

[XXX-1.8T]

And what does everyone use on their racks?

[snerlo]

Sorry for the late reply on this thread but just stepping back a touch. In relation to your query regarding the tyre pressure monitoring coming on, 36psi is too low. You should be up around the 39-41psi range. I know when mine get down to this range that the warning comes up on my display telling me to check tyre pressures. Try putting some more pressure in them and see what happens. Also, what tyre pressure mode are you in. I think there is two modes depending on the weight you are carrying in your car.

[Screwdriverone]

Thanks snerlo I will give that a try, and report back. cheers!


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[Screwdriverone]

I'm in light load conditions as mostly just me or one passenger as well.


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[Screwdriverone]

Snerlo to the rescue! Set the tyres to 40 PSI today when filling with BP ultimate (including the spare, which had dropped from 36 to 32, and no more check tyre pressure alarm! Thanks Snerlo!

Cheers,

Chris

2008 R36 Reflex Silver Wagon

[snerlo]

No probs mate. Always helps when someone has been there before.

[seanmau5]

Good work checking your spare. I was pulling my hair out over a TPMS warning on the dash for weeks. Tyres were at 40 psi on every gauge I tested with. Turns out the spare was 30 psi and setting it off


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